Handicap and special Parking woes, any stories to add

I just happened to read 2 stories today, and as we love lively discussions I would love to hear your stories.

My story, a buffet opened up and we had a window seat looking out upon the handicapped parking spaces. It was raining, a car with a tag hanging from the mirror pulled into the HC spot, 7 people got out of the car and all ran to the door to avoid getting wet, hey lets take moms car, she has a HC tag! my guess. Maybe I am being a little harsh, but you do not need a handicap space if you can run imhop.

Internet Story 1.

Ashley Brady, 26, told the Amputee Coalition of America that she lost her leg over the summer and has been trying to adjust to life with a prosthetic. She said she had been waiting all winter to have a parking spot near her apartment in Miamisburg changed to one reserved for people with handicaps.
“Then after having my parking spot only 2 days a lady who was not handicap and does not have plates parked in my spot.”
Brady said she left a note on the woman’s car asking her not to park there and warning that it would be towed in the future. Later, she found a response letter on her own car.
“1st, never place your hands on my car again! 2nd, honey you ain’t the only one with “struggles.” You want pity go to a one leg support group! You messed with the wrong one! I don’t care about what your note said shove it, but you touch my car again and I will file a report, I am not playing! I let the office know the cry baby one leg touches my property I will cause trouble so go cry your struggles to someone who cares cause I’m walking away with both mine!!!"

Internet story 2.

Female veteran finds nasty note on her car after parking in ‘reserved for veterans’ spot

It read, “Maybe [you] can’t read the sign you parked in front of … This space is reserved for those who fought for America … not you. Thanks, Wounded Vet.”

“I want them to know they owe me and every other female service member who’s fighting now and who’s fought in the past, an apology for jumping to conclusions,” Caine said.

Handicap signs are tricky. Every time I see someone with one that does not “seem” to need it, I remind myself that I don’t know them. Just have to hope that everyone is going to be honest about it.

A few years ago, Andrew Bynum who was a Lakers Player at the time, was apparently parking in the handicap spot to go get his sandwiches.

And for those who truly need one…but just for the next six months for example…I’ve heard you can not get a temporary placard.
Is this always true or different by local laws ?
or…
the application process takes so dang long your foot will be healed by then ?

In OK the HC placards are good for 5 years but a temporary permit can be gotten for 6 months.

I try not to judge anyone who parks in a HC spot because I’m not in their shoes and while they look fine on the surface they may be in bad shape underneath.
A lot of people have the “Well, they look fine to me so…” attitude.

I’ve also seen a number of people who park in HC spots with no placard and some of them with a lively bounce in their step into and out of a store.

Regarding the story about the lady who left the note for the person who took her spot I don’t think she have left a note and touched anyone’s car as that could present an issue; real or imagined.
She should have just turned them in and had the car ticketed or towed; however they do it there.

Some of you may remember a scene form the sitcom “Night Court” where a nosy reporter wants quick info from Bull, the court bailiff. He said he was in a hurry because he was in a handicapped spot. Bull’s reply was: “I can arrange it so you can park there legally”.

You have to kinda remember the Huffington Post is maybe not the best source but assuming its all true, just goes to show you there are all kinds in this world. Evil lurks.

Even back in 1970, our Army Reserve unit had a couple females. It was not common but common enough to never assume that you had to be a male to be a vet. They could shoot as well as anyone else and passed their proficiency test in hand to hand combat.

@bing “Huffington Post is maybe not the best source”

I rank them up with bbc and npr as far as credibility goes. Now fox (faux) news ranks lower than Saturday Night Live as far as credibility goes in my book. I recall going to Madison to protest against Act 10, my daughter even wanted to go with me with her boyfrind. We all went and then went to visit Grandma, a fox news junkie. "Oh that is so dangerous, the rapists and union thugs and bad people there it is not safe!"
It was perfectly safe there!

Perfect quote from my neice there at the time, “Grandma you have to stop listening to fox news.”

I can walk, I can run, I can carry furniture. I also qualify for an HC tag. I haven’t gotten one yet, but all I have to do is ask my cardiologist for it.

Lots of things to be morally indignant about every day. I don’t need more.

@jtsanders I may have been wrong, I could have been wrong, glad you are up to doing all those things and a reminder that there may be circumstances and one should not rush to judgement.

Barky, the lady in the first instance should have filed a report with the police. Most states have “criminal threatening” laws, and this clearly meets the criteria. And, since the lady who left the note also admitted in writing to parking in a HC spot, she could be fined for the parking as well as criminally prosecuted for the threat. In NH the fine is $250.

In NH you can get a 6-month temporary HC placard. I have a permanent one, and can get an HC plate for no charge instead of having the renew the placard every 5 years, but I’d have to give up my veteran’s plate and I don’t want to do that. To get a HC Veteran plate requires that the handicap be service related, and mine isn’t.

And today, as I so often have done, I had to remove someone’s shopping cart from the HC parking space. There is a minority of the population that simply doesn’t care about anyone but themselves.

For the record, I would gladly give up my handicap placard if I could get up every morning and go through my day focused on what I’m going to accomplish or enjoy rather than on managing my pain. I would gladly give up everything I have for that. Alas, all I can do is enjoy and appreciate the good days when I have them and accept the bad days.

Madison seems to be pretty calm. In Minnesota you can get a temporary 6 month HC permit. When my wife broke her leg we got one and maybe used it a couple times. The wheelchair actually worked a lot better as opposed to watching her trying to maneuver on crutches and we could park anywhere then. You need the Dr’s signature on the form and maybe a $10 fee but it was pretty easy unless you were the person that actually had to hobble in and get it.

In Concord NH they have a separate office with chairs just for processing handicap licenses, so the HC don’t have to stand in lines. I mention this out of thanks for whoever implemented the idea. Believe me, it’s appreciated. In my case, having to stand in a line can result in days of constant pain and limitation before the inflammation subsides.

Whoever you are, thank you.

One time at a Whole Foods parking lot I saw a huge, brand new looking, very shiny Mercedes park right up front, purposely covering two handicapped spots so as not to get a ding. No placard, the driver jumped out of the car and ran into the store.

Just before the last election I saw a Mercedes S-class parked this way with a political sign on top and loaded with political stickers. I walked into the store and it was obvious who owned it… by “Uncle Sam” suspenders, his straw hat, etc. I looked at him, and said loudly “is that your Mercedes out there?” He headed straight for me with a huge grin and his hand out, and started to say "yes, it is, I’m running for… " and I replied “do you realize that you’re blocking two handicap spaces and you don’t even have a permit?”. His hand dropped, his face turned red, and he made a fast beeline for the door. I embarrassed the heck out of him. It was a good day.

My mom was one of those whose mobility disability was not always apparent. Due to an early stroke she had weakness on one side such that leg could start dragging, especially when exposed to wind when outdoors. She coped for many years without HC tags and designated parking before those were established.

She was also a military veteran, having served as a WWII WAC. Despite her weak leg, the several times we happened to visit military bases as civilians in her senior years it was always fun to see how she automatically shed her civilian walking gait and reverted to a precise marching stride and squared turning corners without realizing she was doing so.

A lot of people look at someone who has all 4 limbs and able to move as being a person not deserving of a HC placard. If someone has a placard it means there’s an issue that a doctor signed off on and the fact that someone can appear to move from parking spot to storefront doesn’t mean they’re fine.

About 8 years ago I discovered (no idea how it happened) that I had a serious neck injury. The doc said I had zero options and had to go to the hospital immediately after he saw the MRI pics.
I refused as Thanksgiving was coming up in a week and I wanted to be home when the kids arrived so I was advised to sit, do nothing, don’t turn wrong, etc or the worst would happen.

I continued doing what I could. Some of the neighbors asked about me and when the wife told them what was going on the usual response was “well, I saw him the other day and he looked fine…”. If they only knew.
They never saw me having to use both hands to turn the key in the car or move the gearshift lever, tie my shoes, or struggling to raise my arms to shoulder level. I couldn’t even crush a marshmallow with my right hand and the left wasn’t much better.

One crushed spinal cord and 5 disc repairs later things are pretty good all things considered and no one was more surprised than the neurosurgeons who originally would not even talk to me about my inquiries regarding how long I was going to be in the hospital post surgery.
Three and a half days and out on my own; go figure.

I can’t drive any more, but try not to he judge other people who look to be abusing permits. I have no idea what they’re going through. I’m sure I don’t look “disabled” (imagine finger quotes) to many people. If you aren’t blind and have two legs there are people who think you can do anything. I wish. It’s not a matter of will power.

Then again I know a guy who plays in my pool league despite having two prosthetic legs, one arm being just a stub six inches below his shoulder, and the other ending a few inches below the elbow. The legs don’t seem to be any problem at all, and he can do amazing things with what arms he has (like playing pool.) I have never met someone so endlessly inventive. He isn’t exactly a good pool player, but he is far from the worst in the league, either. He doesn’t want to be seen as inspirational, but watching him chalk a pool cue and take a shot is one of the most astounding things I’ve ever seen. He can also pick up and write with a pen. He certainly drops stuff a lot less often than I do (not hard to beat me on that), probably because he’s learned he has no way of picking them up if he does. Anyhow, he hasn’t figured out how to drive yet, but he’s still fairly young so may get to enjoy self-driving cars. I certainly hope so. I doubt I’ll live long enough, but who knows?

“I’ve heard you can not get a temporary placard.
Is this always true or different by local laws ? or…the application process takes so dang long your foot will be healed by then ?”

I don’t know about other states, but in my state it was very easy to get a temporary tag.
My doctor signed the needed form, I drove directly to the local police station to present that form, and 10 minutes later, I was able to hang my 6 month tag from my rear view mirror.

Ironically, the biggest problem I had that day was in finding a parking space at the police station, and I had to hobble my way on my new crutches a fairly long distance into the station, as I did not yet have my handicapped parking tag!

We have a chain of stores in SE Wisconsin called Farm and Fleet. I go there for just about anything if they have it…from electrical, tools, clothing, plumbing to household items.

One winter day I stopped in and the weather had warmed enough to make the majority of the parking lot a lake of thick slush, three inches deep. The closest I could park was about 12 car spaces away from the front door. As I got out of my truck, I noticed a man in a wheelchair trying to plow his way through the deep slush. For every two feet he went forward, he’d have to back up a foot to get momentum to plow through a few more feet.

I walked over and gave him a push and between the two of us, we were able to make it to the door a little easier.
When I got in the store I called for the manager and explained how hard it was for the man and that out of the 12 HC spots only two cars had a sticker or HC plates. He thanked me for pointing it out and I went about my shopping.
All these abusers were trying to keep from trudging through all the slush.

Ten minutes later as I walked back out of the store there were three squad cars there blocking any of the culprits from leaving and they issued tickets to them all. As I drove away I saw the man in the wheelchair leaving and one of the mechanic’s from the shop was pushing his cart while the manager helped push the man to his car.

In my opinion, if I were the chief in any community I would want my officers to take 30 minutes out of their shift and patrol just for this.
I think the sticker that you hang from the mirror is much better than plates, and that the sticker should be registered to that person…no matter what car they are in. If that person is not present at the car or in the store, a fine would be issued to the driver of the car.
I think if the tickets were issued more often and of a substantial amount there would be less abuse of the right.

Yosemite